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My day at Cardiff


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Well,

 

Not sure how to start this, Today was a mixed day half good and half okish...

 

Two of the guests I wanted to meet had dropped out.. Never mind, I still had a few on my list..

 

I didn't get there until Midday as all my guests were doing photos in the afternoon. I found it very quiet compered to all the last other Cons at this Arena. Normally I see Queues stretching around the block for people to buy on the day. I only saw the queue back to the bottom of the stairs of the venue.

 

Lucky for me I had an Early Bird Ticket and had no problem getting in... Once inside it was very busy you couldn't really check out the stalls as the sellers area was rammed.

 

I went for my first photo shoot with one of the Wrestlers only to be told this was cancelled? No reason was given, However I was told to get my refund which I did without any fuss from the staff (well Done SM)

 

Well I thought I get my photo done with the Delorean, I was really disappointed with this, First the photo taken is so tiny, The lighting is poor and my photo looks fuzzy. Oh well for a fiver it was worth sitting in the car. I don't think SM had anything to do with this as the folder the photo is put into has no Showmasters Logos.

 

Well the rest of my Photo Ops went really well and the guests were really great, I noticed Dave Prowse was busy and always seemed to have queue, more than the other guests. The Star Trek guests seemed very quiet.

 

I do like Cardiff, The City is a wonderful place that once you have done everything you want inside Comic Con there's a whole lot more happening outside...

 

Cardiff Com see you in November if i'm not recalled back to the Deserts..... :smile:

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I thought it was quite quiet at the dealers table; didn't have much problem looking at all of the stalls. Then again I'm used to LFCC and after last year anything in comparison is going to be quiet.

 

I thought the whole day was great, just the right amount of people visiting the venue so not over crowded and I had a great time at the talks. Cheapest event I've gone to in a long time

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Had a great day in Cardiff yesterday at the event. Arrived at the arena early and queued in front of 2 Ghostbusters, queue moved quickly even though we did not pre book tickets. Ron ashton-Griffiths said good morning to my wife. I wore my Harry Pitter studio t-shirt. Met Jessie Cave first and she was great and said she loved my t-shirt and she signed my autograph book, a signed photo and got a pic of her with my wife. We then met Jeff Rawle whowas very good and got a signed pic, autograph book and photo with the wife. We met Myanna Burring who signed a photo from Twilight and a pic with my wife. Bought 3 protectors for signed pics. Had photo with Rr2D2. Took photo of the delorian car. Will be back for our fifth event in November!!

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Fun weekend.

 

Day 1. Volenteering for showmasters in the morning, fun times. Hope i did ok and can do it again. wish i'd asked for both days !

Afternoon - very squishy around the dealers area and supringly busy !

 

Day 2 First time ever i've not gone in early, though that didn't stop me being in the area at 8.30am, !!

A quieter day inside too, then Sundays always are.

 

Over the 2 days i did 4 photo's and 2 autos, think this is the least money i've spent at a con lol

A reminder to myself why i never do autos, the one guest was fab the other not so much.

 

November beacons :D

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Had a great day today at the con, introducing my nephews to the world of Showmasters cons, and couldn't have wished for a more relaxed, spacious start!

Really good vibe at the show, no pushing or indeed smelly people today - I've never been on a Sunday before but can definitely see the appeal!

Was also good to see the guests nice and relaxed, Ray Park had an open queue by 4pm and was happily posing for photos, walking around the front of his desk ( I love it when guests do this!)

Ok some of the regular stalls weren't there but that was to be expected. There was still a good range of dealers though and they looked to be doing good business too...

Sure Cardiff was also hit by some rotten guest cancellations but everyone I saw was having a great time and making the most of the day.

Roll on the next one and I'm sure my nephews will be accompanying me again after this!

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My first Cardiff Comic Con on Saturday.

 

I had bought an early bird ticket and arrived around 8.30 a.m. at the Motorpoint arena , bit of a queue but no where on a par with the London one, although it had stretched quite a way by opening. Crew and Venue staff came down the line regularly checking people were in the correct queue as there was a queue on the other side for pay on the day. Both were clearly sign posted as you came up to the front of the queue lines, so you knew which one to head for.

 

Entry was very quick and was in with in a matter of minutes, no one seemed to be particularly heading for the guests so had gone round and got all my autos with Myanna, Sonita, Jeff, Jessie, Roger, Max, Dan and Nathan (all happy to pose for photos at the table) before 10.00 a.m. and my first photoshoot. All the guests were great, Jeff Rawle in particular was a real character and had a great chat about his love of autograph collecting as well. Bit tricky to find the photoshoots, although there were venue staff at each level they didn't really seem to be clued in to which way to go , but did notice some more signs went up later. Both photoshoots with Myanna and Kristanna went fine. The corridors in the top level of the arena are a bit dark and similar looking though.

 

The rest of the day I doing a range of things, attending the Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Kristanna and Ray Park talks which were all quite enjoyable, the first two particularly well attended. Even asked a couple of questions as well in two of the talks. The talk host did his job well, had some questions ready if needed and everything ran smoothly although bit annoying to get the tannoy interrupting the talks, in every one, but became a bit of a joke by the end of the day.

 

I decided to get the BTTF Delorean shoot which was o.k. for a £5 although quality wasn't great so hoping for better things for the Delorean and Christopher Lloyd Shoot at LFCC.

 

I also had booked late in the day the Dave Prowse Green Screen Shoot with Emperor's throne which went very well, Dave was a top bloke as always. My first e-ticket booking as well which went well.

 

Following Kristanna's talk decided to go and see her again later in the afternoon and as she had no queue had a chat about some of the areas that had come up in her talk and that I had met her back in 2003 when she had been at Collectormania. She thought that was her very first Convention appearance. It was great to have been at her talk previously and whilst she has enjoyed the action roles that have come her way I sensed she had a real drive now to make films through her production company and using her father's books to tell some quite moving , dramatic and more political stories which her action roles had given her the financial ability to be able to do. Really interesting to spend some time talking with her.

 

Catering was very different to the London events, but actually although seemed quite chaotic actually seemed to work well and somewhere in the middle of the day I had a cheeseburger and some chips which was very reasonably priced compared to London prices.

 

Got some great bargain comics from a stall that was having a clearout with everything for 50p, so came home loaded with comics, some lego and yes, some more Funko Pops !

 

Only real shock of the day was the £18 it cost me to park !

 

Overall, a very enjoyable first visit to the Cardiff Comic Con, and certainly plan to attend in the future, well worth the early start and drive. Probably would make more of a weekend of it next time to go and explore Cardiff more and some of the Doctor Who and Torchwood locations.

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I have attended numerous Showmasters events over the years so have plenty of experience of their shows. I usually arrive early & pay early bird entry to avoid any long queues for guest autos which is neceassary for guests like Carrie Fisher & Ian McDiarmid (London last year).

This event was different as i didn't arrive until after lunch time; the queuing car park traffic was a struggle. Once I got to the show though it was plain sailing with no queue to get in and entrance price was much cheaper.

I don't usually bother with official photos/guest talks, so I made my way directly to the guests where I grabbed some autos & over the table photos with no hassle with the exception of Ray Park who was coming back after 3.15pm talk.

All the guests I met were friendly, talkative & posed for photos except Dave Prowse (no posed photo sign); Ray Park & Kristanna Loken were the highlights.

It was much easier to walk around & check out the dealer tables with space to stop & rest too. Although me & my nine year old son was there for a couple of hours, this was by far the most pleasant experience I have had; great job SM, we'll be back in November for sure 👍

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